Last fall, the Obama administration took initial steps towards limiting mountaintop removal when the Department of Interior announced it would begin to review state-issued surface mining permits and at least begin to explore tightened restrictions on dumping mine waste into streams. Then, last month, a dozen leading scientists published a bombshell study on the effects of mountaintop removal, actually calling for an end to the practice. Yet the EPA's just approved yet another mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia, and the timeline for the Interior Department actually proposing stronger dumping regulations is unclear.

I, for one, am expecting quite a show as Blankenship and Kennedy duke it out (verbally) tonight. So tune in via Twitter and video tonight for the play-by-play, and watch Switchboard tomorrow for Rob Perks' take on the debate.

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